It's never
a good sign when a movie reveals almost all there is to know in its trailer
or teevee spot. So, this CrankyCritic® review
comes to you guest hosted by Alex Trebek.

Cranky:
I'll take "Deja Vu" for $400, Alex.Alex: The answer is: Busted for a murder she didn't commit, an
innocent runs from the lawCranky: What is The Fugitive?Alex: No, I'm sorry. "She" is the catch. The category
is "deja vu"

Cranky:
OK, then, same category for $800Alex: The answer is: "Tommy Lee Jones hot on the trail of
a Fugitive"Cranky: Ah, you're not gonna fool me this time. What is U.S.
Marshals?Alex: Nope. Sorry. The answer to both questions is, well how about
this, Double Jeopardy!

Which, had
the producers gone the low budget route and cast Priscilla Presley and
Mike Farrell, could have been sold as a Lifetime Exclusive Movie under
the title -- I Killed My Husband . . . And Then He Stole My Baby!

Sentenced
to jail for a gruesome murder she swears she didn't commit, rich young
thing Libby Parsons (Ashley Judd) is obsessed with finding her
young son, who has disappeared with the best friend into whose care he
had been placed. When she tracks this pair down, to a new identity in
a new city, she makes the awful discovery that her husband isn't dead!
Since authorities don't want to hear it (they've heard it all before,
don'tcha know) Libby heeds the sage advice of another ex-lawyer, also
imprisoned for murder: "You've killed him once. You were convicted.
They can't try you again for the same crime so, bide your time..."

That's a twist
on the Fifth Amendment with reasoning that I'm sure any lawyer out there could
take apart in a second. It doesn't get in the way of the story (unlike the problems
I had with last year's A Simple Plan),
a neat package whose loose ends are neatly tied up before the by the book heart
tugging ending. Release on parole after six years, Libby is ensconced in a halfway
house, under the eye of depressed ex-law professor turned parole officer Travis
Lehman (Tommy Lee Jones) who has also lost a child to a thieving ex-spouse.
Driven by the need to find her son, Libby will eventually break parole and Travis
will follow. You get a cross country chase, at least one near death escape, an
interesting story twist that Edgar Allen Poe probably dreamed and forgot a hundred
years ago and a cute boy with a fuzzy mop top. Nothing you haven't seen before.
With A-list stars to keep your attention, Double Jeopardy is a perfectly
average way to pass the time, but it isn't gripping and thrilling storytelling.
Blink twice and you'll see it on the rental racks.

On average,
a first run movie ticket will run you Eight Bucks. Were Cranky able to
set his own price to Double Jeopardy, he would have paid...